Language, identity and preferences: the case of rural-urban migration in Uganda.

了解人类行为决定因素的愿望是几个学科的目标。对经济偏好的研究，如合作、互惠和信任，加深了我们对是什么驱使个人做出某些选择的理解。一个人从合作中获得的效用不仅仅取决于财富或教育等因素，还取决于他们的文化认同和他们面临的社会压力。越来越多的证据表明，偏好，至少在一定程度上，可能取决于背景或环境因素，以及其他人的行为。我打算以发展中世界的一个关键趋势--从农村向城市的迁移为镜头，通过它来探索背景、身份和偏好之间的互动。“语言是一个民族历史的储存库。它是他们的身份。”水晶(1997，第20页)。最近的项目发现，偏好在国际上存在显著的异质性，这就提出了一个问题：是什么决定了这些差异。语言已经成为一个重要的因素，最新的研究是利用实验室对双语者进行的实地实验。虽然研究发现语言可以影响行为，但其背后的机制仍未被探索。社会和文化因素，如规范或期望，可能是推动这些差异的原因。同样，语言也可以作用于个体，使同一性类别更加突出，从而激活不同的内化偏好。首先，我试图通过预先注册的研究来复制关于合作行为的现有发现。先前的研究已经发现了显著的语言效应，导致合作水平的30%的差异。作为这项工作的一部分，我将调查潜在的机制，共同和个别地探索规范、期望和内化的偏好。第二，我打算在撒哈拉以南非洲从农村到城市的移民背景下探索身份认同。历史上第一次，撒哈拉以南非洲的大多数人现在居住在城市地区。城市化进程加快的一个关键驱动力是从农村向城市的迁移。与国际移徙不同，国内移徙与其原籍社区保持“联系”，为探索偏好的背景依赖性提供了独特的机会。在这里，一个人可能会发展和保持多个身份，从而表现出不同的行为选择，仅仅是因为环境(‘地点’)。我将探讨规范和期望是否因地而异，从而理解背景因素之所以重要的背后机制。最后，同样在农村向城市迁移的背景下，如果规范和期望因地而异，我将调查在一种文化(暴露)中增加的时间是否构成对规范和期望的“学习”。此外，我还将探讨，减少与原籍社区的接触是否表现为“遗忘”，或者移民是否只是保持双重身份和理解。我是一名二年级兼职博士生，必须在2025年9月之前完成我的博士学位。由于在UEA获得CBESS资助的时间限制，我已经完成了实地工作，并有数据支持至少两份高质量的出版物。提交并接受了CSAE 2020年会议的第一份文件草稿。在这一点上，我正在申请国家自然资源管理委员会，以使我能够花更多的时间制作出版物，并有可能进行更多的实地工作。我的长期目标是全职进入学术界。此外，兼职学习限制了我参加会议和成为研究界更活跃的一员的能力。

The desire to understand the determinants of human behaviour is the goal of several disciplines. Research into economic preferences, such as cooperation, reciprocity and trust,has enhanced our understanding of what drives individuals to make certain choices. Theutility an individual derives from cooperating is not solely contingent on factors like wealthor education, but also their cultural identity and the social pressures they face. Growingevidence suggests that preferences, at least in part, may be reliant on contextual orenvironmental factors, as well as the actions of others. I intend to use rural to urbanmigration, a key trend in the developing world, as lens through which the interactionbetween context, identity and preferences can be explored."Language is the repository of the history of a people. It is their identity." Crystal (1997, p.20).Recent projects have identified significant international heterogeneity in preferences,begging the question what determines these differences. Language has emerged as animportant factor, with the most recent research making use of lab-in-the-field experimentswith bilinguals. While studies have found language can affect behaviour, the underlyingmechanism remains unexplored. Social and cultural factors, such as norms or expectations,may be driving these differences. Equally, language may act to 'prime' individuals, making anidentity category more salient, thereby activating different sets of internalised preferences.Firstly, I seek to replicate existing findings concerning cooperative behaviour by means of apre-registered study. Prior research has found a significant language effect, leading to a 30%difference in cooperation levels. As part of this, I will investigate the underlying mechanism,exploring norms, expectations and internalised preferences, both jointly and individually.Secondly, I intend to explore identity in the context of rural-urban migration in Sub-SaharanAfrica. For the first time in history, the majority of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa nowreside in urban areas. A key driver of increased urbanisation has been rural to urbanmigration. Unlike international migration, national migrants maintain 'links' with theircommunities of origin, presenting a unique opportunity to explore the context-dependency ofpreferences. Here an individual may develop and maintain multiple identities, therebyexhibiting different behavioural choices, simply because of context ('place'). I will explorewhether norms and expectations differ by place and thereby understand the mechanismbehind why contextual factors matter.Lastly, again in the setting of rural-urban migration, if norms and expectations differ byplace, I will investigate whether increased time within a culture (exposure) constitutes'learning' about norms and expectations. Further, I will explore whether reduced exposure toa community of origin manifests as 'unlearning', or whether migrants simply maintain dualidentities and understanding. This is has not been explored by the literature to date.I am a second year part-time PhD student, required to complete my PhD by September 2025.Due to time limits placed on funding from CBESS at UEA, I have already completed field workand have data to support at least two high quality publications. A draft of the first of thesepapers was submitted and accepted for the CSAE 2020 conference. I am applying to SeNSS atthis point to enable me to spend significantly more time producing publications andpotentially conducting more field work. My long-term goal is to enter academia on a full-timebasis. Further, part-time study restricts my ability to attend conferences and become a moreactive member of the research community.